Ski binding apparatus

ABSTRACT

A heel and toe binding mounting plate is slidably received in grooves formed in side walls of a ski, the side walls are integral with the ski and extend above the top surface thereof. The plate can be moved fore or aft to a selected location to optimize the location of the skier relative to the ski. The plate is formed with a transversely extending slot which cooperates with a series of bores in the ski so that when the plate is at its selected location a pin is inserted through the slot into a bore to lock the plate in the selected location.

United States Patent Guild [45] Dec. 16, 1975 [5 SKI BINDING APPARATUS3,248,124 4/1966 Tiesler 280/1135 c Inventor: William H. d, PO BOX 33,355,183 11/1967 Kneissl 280/1 1.13 E

H mgham Mass 02043 Primary Examiner-Robert R. Song [22] Filed: Dec. 23,1974 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John A. Haug [21] Appl. No.: 535,345

Related US. Application Data [57] ABSTRACT [63] Continuation of Ser. NO.351 580 April 16 1973 A h toe bmdmg W plate Slldably abandone ceived 1ngrooves formed in side walls of a ski, the slde walls are integral withthe ski and extend above the 52 us. on 280/1l.35 c 1 Surface thereof-The Plate can be moved fore or 51 int. C1. A63C 9/08 aft a Selectedlocation to Optimize the location of [58] Field of Search 280/] 1.35 C 1135 T the skier relative to the ski. The plate is formed with a 280/1113C H 13 W H 13 H 13 transversely extending slot which cooperates with aseries of bores in the ski so that when the plate is at its [56]References Cited selected location a pin is inserted through the slotinto UNITED STATES PATENTS a bore to lock the plate in the selectedlocation. 3,198,537 8/1965 Silberman 280/1135 c 7 Claims, 6 DrawingFigures US. Patent Dec. 16, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,926,451

US. Patent Dec. 16, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,926,451

I IP ,0 H H i my l0 SKI BINDING APPARATUS This is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 351,580 filed 4-16-73.

The invention relates generally to ski bindings and more particularly toadjustably mounted bindings.

For many years skiing was engaged in by relatively few and little effortwas expended in improving ski equipment. However in recent years thesport has become enormously popular and with this increased popularityski equipment has been greatly improved in variety, safety andsophistication. Traditionally skis and bindings have been boughtseparately with the ski manufacturer having little or no control overthe positioning of the bindings on the skis other than by suggestingrecommendations. The bindings have been installed in a local ski shop bypeople of varying talents with the result that the bindings arefrequently not located at their optimum position for a particular skier.A difference of only a fraction of an inch in the longitudinal locationof the bindings from an optimum location for a particular individual canresult in significant loss of control in the handling of the skis. Ithas also normally been the practice to use the toe clamp as thereference point and to vary the position of the heel clamp to fitvarious styles of boots, however, this does not directly bear on thelocation of the ball of the foot through which the skiers weight istransferred to the ski. Further, there are instances when it isdesirable to shift the center of the skiers weight fore or aft on theski depending on different types of skiing such as hard pan versus deeppowder. In the latter case it may be desirable to move the weight aft tokeep the tip of the skis up and prevent them from tunneling into thepowder.

Some attempts have been made to provide adjustable mountings to vary theposition of the skiers boots with respect to the ski running surface inaccordance with skiing conditions or personal preferances, for instanceas shown and described in US. Pat. No. 3,514,119; however, suchmountings have been relatively complex and expensive and moreimportantly the ski manufacturer has no control over their use and thushas no assurance that the ski buyer will be able to adjust the positionof the bindings to achieve optimum performance.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide apparatus whichwill enable a ski manufacturer to insure that the skier will be able torealize the full potential of a given pair of skis by permitting him tohave the optimum binding location without deleteriously affecting thetuning or designed performance characteristic of the ski.

Another object of this invention is the provision of binding mountingmeans which will enable optimum location of the skier relative to agiven pair of skis regardless of the particular skiers anatomy, type ofski boots or skiing habits.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of adjustablebinding mounting means which will permit a skier to easily adjust theposition of his bindings to suit his style of skiing and the particularskiing condition.

Another object of this invention is the provision of ski bindings whichwill give the ski manufacturer as well as the ultimate consumerassurance that the binding can be located in the optimum locationregardless of the talents of the ski shop employee who mounts thebindings and without loss in the designed ski performance.

Various additional objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome readily apparent from the following detailed description andaccompanying drawings.

Briefly the above objects are realized by providing opposed side wallson the ski extending above the generally flat top surface of the ski,the side walls formed integrally with the ski, and a groove formed ineach side wall aligned and facing each other, the grooves slidablyreceiving a heel and toe binding mounting plate between the fore and aftlimits. A transversely extending slot in the plate cooperates with aseries of longitudinally and transversely offset bores, and a pinextends through the slot into a selected one of the bores to lock theplate in a selected position.

In the accompanying drawings in which one of the preferred embodimentsof the invention is illustrated:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a ski and binding mounting made inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the FIG. 1 ski and binding mounting;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but with the binding mounting plateremoved;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a locking pin used in the invention.

Dimensions of certain parts as shown in the drawings may have beenmodified or exaggerated for the purpose of clarity of illustration.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral 10 indicates a ski made inaccordance with the invention on which a toe piece 12 and heel piece 14are mounted. Ski 10 is formed with two side walls 16 and 18 which extendabove the top of generally flat surface 20 of ski 10. As best seen inFIG. 4, aligned, facing grooves 22, 24 are formed in respective walls 16and 18, the bottom surface of the grooves being coplanar with topsurface 20 of the ski. Opposite sides of a heel and toe binding mountingplate 30 are slidably received in the grooves with the sliding movementof the plate limited between fore and aft stops 32, 34 (FIG. 5). Thedimensions of the plate and of the grooves is such that the plate caneasily be moved longitudinally along the length of the ski within thegrooves while the grooves capture the plate and maintain it in contactwith surface 20 of the ski and prevent skew movement of the platerelative to the longitudinally axis of the ski.

A transversely extending slot 36 is formed in plate 30 which cooperateswith a series of bores 38 in ski 10 in communication with surface 20 ofthe ski. A pin 40 having a head 42 and shank 44 is received through slot36 and into one of the bores 38 to lock the plate in a selected adjustedposition. Preferably shank 44 is threaded along with bores 38 to preventdislodgment of the pin. Head 40 may be slotted to receive a tool forturning thereof and also may be knurled to facilitate turning in theevent that a tool or coin is not available. In order to provide smallmovements of longitudinal adjustment bores 38 are preferably located atdifferent points transversely along the width of the ski. That is, animaginary line running through the center of the bores forms an anglegreater than 0 and less than with the longitudinal axis of the ski. Theparticular number of bores provided is a matter of choice, dependingupon the total adjustment range desired as well 3 as the desiredincremental lengths (longitudinal distance between adjacent bores). Itis, of course, within the purview of the invention to provide othermeans for locking plate 30 in its selected location if so desired.

A ski made in accordance with the invention may be a conventional skimodified to provide side walls integral with the ski extending above thegenerally planar top surface of the ski. FIG. 4 shows one such possibleconstruction in which the side walls 16 and 18 are formed integrallywith conventional side walls 1 and 2 as by molding. The remainder of theski can be of any conventional construction such as the exemplary oneshown having a wooden core 3, sandwiched by metal layers 4 and 5 andplastic layers 6 and 7 with edges 8 and 9 on opposite sides of plasticlayer 7.

Grooves 22 and 24 may extend along the entire length of side walls 16and 18 with stops 32, 34 fixedly attached after the plate is mounted ormay be molded to extend a selected distance so that the plate would haveto be disposed in position when the side walls are fixed to theremainder of the ski body. In either case, once the ski is completedwith plate 30 captured in grooves 22, 24 between fixed limits 32, 34assurance is had that the ultimate consumer will be able to easilyadjust the fore and aft position of the plate and concomitantly thebindings so that optimum location is achieved for the particularindividual and the particular ski conditions encountered.

Thus the invention described above enables the ski manufacturer toinsure that the ski buyer will be afforded the opportunity of realizingthe full potential of the skies by permitting him to have the optimumbinding location for his style of skiing and the particular skiingconditions encountered. Forming the plate confining means integrallywith the skies also enables the manufacturer to control the design sothat the provision of the adjustable bindings does not militate againstthe theoretical performance designed into the ski which could happen ifadjustable binding mounting means of various types were installed on theskis subsequent to manufacture. By incorporating the confining means ofthe adjustable mounting plate integrally with the ski at themanufacturing level, the designed performance characteristics of the skiwill be constant and not subject to change by the addition of layers ofmaterial not inherent in the design of the ski, that is, themanufacturer can coordinate the many factors involved in theconstruction of the ski such as the weight distribution of the componentparts, flexivity and so on. It should also be noted that the apparatusof this invention maintains the ski boot in close proximity to the skifor performance optimization.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a specificpreferred embodiment thereof, many variations and modifications willimmediately become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is thereforethe intention that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly aspossible in view of the prior art to include all such variations andmodifications.

I claim:

1. Ski apparatus comprising a ski composed of a core encased by top,bottom and side walls, each side wall formed of a single element andhaving a groove, the groove in the two side walls being in alignmentwith and facing each other, a heel and toe binding mounting plate, theplate slidably received and captured in the grooves, and means to lockthe plate in a desired adjusted position.

2. Ski apparatus according to claim 1 in which stops are provided tolimit fore and aft sliding movement of the plate.

3. Ski apparatus according to claim 1 in which the bottom surface ofeach groove is coplanar with the top surface of the ski.

4. Ski apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for locking theplate in desired adjusted position includes a transversely extendingslot formed in the plate and a series of bores perpendicular to the topsurface of the ski are formed in the ski along the length of the ski anda headed pin extends through the slot and into a selected bore.

5. Ski apparatus according to claim 4 in which an imaginary line drawnthrough the centers of the bores forms an angle greater than 0 and lessthan with the longitudinal axis of the ski thereby permitting smalllongitudinal increments of adjustment of the plate.

6. Ski apparatus according to claim 4 in which the bores and the pin arethreaded.

7. Ski binding apparatus mounted on a ski comprising a heel and toebinding mounting plate, the plate slidably disposed on the ski, means tolock the plate in a desired adjusted position, the ski comprising a coreencased by top, bottom and side walls, each side wall formed of a singleelement and having a groove, the grooves in the two side walls being inalignment with and facing each other, the plate having side edgesslidably received and captured in the grooves whereby desiredcharacteristics can be designed into the entire ski including themounting plate and side walls.

1. Ski apparatus comprising a ski composed of a core encased by top, bottom and side walls, each side wall formed of a single element and having a groove, the groove in the two side walls being in alignment with and facing each other, a heel and toe binding mounting plate, the plate slidably received and captured in the grooves, and means to lock the plate in a desired adjusted position.
 2. Ski apparatus according to claim 1 in which stops are provided to limit fore and aft sliding movement of the plate.
 3. Ski apparatus according to claim 1 in which the bottom surface of each groove is coplanar with the top surface of the ski.
 4. Ski apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for locking the plate in desired adjusted position includes a transversely extending slot formed in the plate and a series of bores perpendicular to the top surface of the ski are formed in the ski along the length of the ski and a headed pin extends through the slOt and into a selected bore.
 5. Ski apparatus according to claim 4 in which an imaginary line drawn through the centers of the bores forms an angle greater than 0* and less than 90* with the longitudinal axis of the ski thereby permitting small longitudinal increments of adjustment of the plate.
 6. Ski apparatus according to claim 4 in which the bores and the pin are threaded.
 7. Ski binding apparatus mounted on a ski comprising a heel and toe binding mounting plate, the plate slidably disposed on the ski, means to lock the plate in a desired adjusted position, the ski comprising a core encased by top, bottom and side walls, each side wall formed of a single element and having a groove, the grooves in the two side walls being in alignment with and facing each other, the plate having side edges slidably received and captured in the grooves whereby desired characteristics can be designed into the entire ski including the mounting plate and side walls. 